For me, some of the best behavioral medicine is getting on my bike with some music, some kind of project I can take on the road, and going to some place outdoors where I can work. This is something I can do no matter where I am. I don't need to travel far away anywhere. I don't have to leave my current world behind (because sometimes to be "adult," I just don't want to), I just need to embrace the world I'm in, and have a little different relationship with it.

So, the other day, I called my assistant Lena to help photograph this experience, because I was really in the zone for a little Joie de Vivre observance. I wanted to share what it looks like, in hopes that you might be able to feel it, and in the hope that it may inspire someone else to explore their own observance of daily joy and living.

PHOTOS BY LENA ROGY

When Fortuna Monsoon began, my life was very different. I was, more or less, footloose and fancy-free and had been for quiet a few years. This type of living was what led to the creation of my business. I was bouncing around for years, freely attaching to whatever desire I felt. This meant lots of travel. I loved to take off on a whim for a week or a few months exploring the deserts or the oceans.

Something happened when I was living in Taos, New Mexico. I started to see a plan. The gist of it was to grow what I had going on, which was making and selling my own brand of goods. I didn't know that this would mean such a big transition in my lifestyle, though.

All of my exploring led me right back to Austin, Texas, where things started to settle down a bit. I needed to move a little differently, a little slower, a little more focused, and within a more concise area.

This has been great for growing a business and a good practice of creating things, but it's sometimes been hard on my spirit. When you get committed to something, it can cause changes that you didn't know would come. Like a significant decrease in wide-ranging, wild-thing living.

So, I do my best to observe a practice of Joie de Vivre.

What does this mean for me? This is a holistic approach to a balance of work, play, stability, fun, creativity, exploration and the basics of life. I'm not always in the same spot with this practice. Sometimes it's out-of-wack, and sometimes it's on-point. This is nothing universal, it's just personal, and I believe there are infinite ways of achieving balance.